All posts tagged: wilderness

SUNDAY BACON CLUB AT WILDERNESS Some exciting news: this year, I am bringing Sunday Bacon Club to Wilderness. Wilderness is an ace food focussed music festival (hooray!) in Oxford, and it doesn’t stop there, it also has lots of theatre, small stages with more eclectic stuff, a roller disco, a spa, yoga and wild swimming. Fun! I went last year as a punter and had a wonderful time, highlights of which were breakfasts at St John and feasts at Hix & Polpo (there were also feasts from Moro & Ottolenghi), lots of music and dancing, a fantastic French circus thing and late nights down in the woods revelling. I was keen to go back this year and happily an email popped into my inbox. Would I be keen to bring Sunday Bacon Club to the Wilderness Cookery School this year? Well, YES, I would. Tickets for Wilderness are on sale now (it always sells out so be speedy), as are tickets for Sunday Bacon Club. It is a shorter class than normal at a bargain …

Back once more to Wilderness and the memory of one of the most fun and delicious Sunday lunches that I have had in a while. The scene is the Banqueting Tent once more, and the chef this time, Mark Hix. Solid English cooking, more live music, the sun, and a hangover that I needed to work my way out of. Standard for a festival, isn’t it? This was medicinal, and a reminder that I need to revisit his restaurants in London again (and try the ones that I have not yet been to). The food served was bright and vibrant, and how I love to eat. Big platters shared in the centre of the table and lots of everything. And who doesn’t love a roast chicken on a Sunday? The whipped broad beans were a revelation, but everything was good. As with the Polpo feast the night before this was generous and big. Wilderness know how to do food at a festival, I will be back next year. This post follows on from my first Wilderness …

Many years ago, pre blog, when I was just a normal mildly obsessive individual idling on the streets, I had three passions: food, travel & music. Other stuff too, of course but the core directions I would find myself moving in centred around those. I read more music blogs than food blogs when I first started (which seems bizarre I would agree) but I always loved live music, finding great new music to listen to, and this was the best place to do this. Even as my life became increasingly centred on food, I still went to music festivals and gigs and always, almost without fail, despaired at the food there. Bring on Wilderness, one of a new breed of festivals that takes food very seriously. Not just by inviting some of London’s best restaurants but also enabling them them to create sumptuous feasts. In the centre of the festival site, there is a large restaurant area with a banquet tent which hosted lunches and dinners from Ottolenghi, Polpo & Hix. Surrounding this was St John …